eight dogs are assigned to lead potential rescuers to the victims. the pups learn everything from basic obedience to finding victims and helping to save their lives. >> they can pick up on the scent of someone or an article and they can alert on it and then we would assist them in digging. they're amazing animals. their senses are amazing. they're easy to train. >> and they're a lot of fun to play with. it takes three years of training before a dog can be tested to be an avalanche dog. >> they're working but they're having fun and don't realize they're working. >> to them it's a game. >> their sense of smell and we can they can retract, like the puppies who find their way home. >> exactly. that's it for us. trace gallagher in for shep. >> the news begins anew or

"studio b." the senate majority leader harry reid and john boehner exchange harsh words. the fiscal cliff in just five days and still no deal. the winter storm that slammed the south is now stranding thousands of travelers in the northeast and beyond. that is coming up. and the russian president vladimir putin says he will sign a bill banning americans from adopting russian children. that's all ahead unless breaking news changes everything on "studio b." i'm trace gallagher in for shepard smith. first from fox at 3:00, back to work in washington, d.c. with less than five days to go before falls right off the fiscal cliff. the senate back in session today and it's the first time the senate or house has met for business between christmas and

new year's in more than four decades. president obama cut his hawaii trip short arriving in washington early today. for now, the house of representatives is not in session but we've learned those lawmakers are set to return this weekend. today the senate majority leader, harry reid, says we've just about run out of time. >> if we go over the cliff, and that's where we're headed, mr. president, the house of representatives as we speak with four days left after today before the first of the year, aren't here with the speaker having told them they'll give them 48 hours notice. i can't imagine their consciences, out wherever they are around the country and we're here trying to get something done. >> we're awaiting reaction from the senate minority leader, mitch mcconnell. when that happens we'll go live to the senate floor but a spokesman for john boehner says

senator reid should talk less and legislate more. the house passed legislation to avoid the fiscal cliff. senate democrats have not. if the president and lawmakers cannot reach a deal in the next five days, automatic tax hikes and major spending cuts are set to kick in and economists warn that could trigger another recession. what else are we hearing from democrats on the hill? >> trace, very interesting comments from vice president joe biden up here for an unrelated matter about the fiscal cliff today. he says, essentially he was asked what do you think will pass? he said if you tell me what would attract republican support, i can tell you what would pass. if asked if he was optimistic, he said he was neither optimistic or pessimistic but was going back to talk to the president. the senate majority leader sounded frustrated with house

republican leadership. >> american people i don't think understand the house of representatives is operating out the house of representatives. it's being operated with a dictatorship of the speaker, not allowing the vast majority of the house representatives to get what they want. >> reporter: as you mentioned, trace, the speaker's spokesman said afterward, reid should focus on legislating. he was scheduled for a news conference this afternoon, but that's been scrubbed. >> what about the republican side? any movement there? >> the breaking news of the moment is the house republican leadership is calling members back for sunday evening, 630to be available if there's a deal. the evening of december 30th december 30th with the end of the year in a matter of hours. so bottom line, they will be

here but earlier a house republican sounded pessimistic. >> we're going over the cliff because i believe it's what the president wants. if you look at how he's handled this negotiation from the beginning, look at what his administration has been telling him, that is tax rates need to go up on everybody. >> we've heard other republicans make that claim feeling if we go off the cliff and everybody's taxes go up, in the new year, if the president wants a deal for those making below $250,000, the republicans won't be able to say no so perhaps he could get what he wants if he waits. but there's a high risk gamble if the markets get anxious seeing that congress and the white house have not reached a deal. >> for those of us keeping score, if there's a fiscal cliff deal, there will be a new senator voting. >> that's right. sworn in a new minutes ago.

i made reference to vice president joe biden, here to swear in the new senator representing hawaii, brian shatz. only the circus senator -- sixth senator to represent hawaii. he's a democrat. it will be interesting to see exactly how he weighs in at some point over the fiscal cliff mess in the final days of 2012. >> mike, thank you. on top of those fiscal cliff concerns, the treasury secretary, timothy geithner, warns we're set to hit the debt ceiling new year's eve, the max amount we're allowed to spend. the current limit is $16.4 trillion. he says the obama administration will work to make sure the u.s. does not default on loans right away but the debate will be another drag on the economy. with us, the chief business correspondent for u.s. news and world report, rick newman, and

author of rebounders, how winners pivot from setback to success. talk about the debt ceiling for us, first of all, welcome. talk about the debt ceiling and how it affects us. we here horror scenarios about the red -- credit rating. >> one good thing you can say about reaching the debt limit is it's not a surprise. everybody has known this is coming up. the government will continue to function for a couple more months. emergency measures will be used to keep the money flowing, so to speak. this is unrelated to the fiscal cliff, so it's an additional problem that everybody has to deal with. of course the worst thing is we know how horrible it was the last time the debt ceiling needed to be raised in the summer of 2011, it went down to the wire and it looked as if there was a chance the united states would not raise the

borrowing limit and default. we heard talk about social security payments not going out and that kind of thing. that's all led to the first downgrade in the u.s. credit rating, the stock market tanked. that was a ugly scenario. on top of the fiscal cliff, we may go through this all over again. it's another drag on the markets and on the whole economy at exactly the wrong time. >> when you say drag, though, give us an example of what you mean. we talked about january 2nd, everybody goes back to work and markets open. are we going to see a lot of volatility. all of a sudden it crashes down at once. what happens to wall street. >> we're going to see a lot of volume activity until the issues get resolved. it's not as if the borrowing limit directly affects companies represented in the stock market, but the problem is that washington is the whole story right now and there's so much

unpredictability about the economy. u.s. treasury securities are the biggest class of securities in the world. it sort of affects everything else about the markets, the financial markets, interest rates. and if we don't quite know what's going to happen in that bedrock market, which provides a lot of liquidity, it affects everything else. there's also a psychological component, which standard & poor's hinted at. the fact there's so little confidence that the u.s. political system will work and congress and politicians in washington can manage the country, this is just a massive bummer. and why -- this should not be the biggest story about the economy. we should be talking about creating jobs and making the u.s. competitive. instead we're wading through man made problems. its disheartening. >> it should not be the biggest story but it is, the fiscal

cliff, the debt ceiling. rick newman, good to see you. >> thanks for having me. >> a fox news weather alert. the massive winter storm that slammed the south moving through the northeast. officials say it's left hundreds of thousands without power and killed more than a dozen people. the blizzard brought record snowfall to arkansas, then blasted the midsection before heading into new england. snowfall ranging from an inch to at least a foot in some spots. the situation causing airport delays and dangerous conditions on the road. listen. >> i lost count of the number of cars i've seen in the ditch. i saw jackknifed tractor-trailer, horse trailer turned over. >> i've seen ten cars in an accident. i saw a lexus fly into a ditch. >> i wish people would slow down. it's pretty slick. >> according to reports an

american airlines jet in pittsburgh got stranded in snow on the tarmac and a southwest plane was stuck in the mud after heavy rain. it's not clear if the weather was to blame but the storm is not over. northern pennsylvania, upstate new york and inland new england could get the heaviest snowfall before the system moves into canada. that's not expected until tomorrow. anna is live in clark summit, pennsylvania. people are starting to dig out but conditions are still bad right now. >> absolutely. trace, this storm claimed the lives of some 15 people and more snow is forecasted into the night. black ice is a concern and winter storm advisories are in place in states through the northeast and flakes are still falling in eastern new york and new england. in upstate new york, in watertown, residents are used to

lake-effect snow but some say this first storm of the season still caught them off-guard. >> you can never be prepared for this. i don't care how long you live here. you can never be prepared. >> it's cold. it's a lot of snow, a lot of work. but it's got to get done. >> reporter: new york governor andrew i cuomo set up a emergeny operation center and warned the power companies to be on their toes, after sandy and being criticized but it's not been a problem thus far. >> we talk about problems. it's busy for travelers. we have family on a plane to new york. what's the impact the storm is having on that? >> both on the road and also in the sky. we've seen a lot of salt trucks, mostly on the thoroughfares, plows are working in tandem to be as efficient as possible but some residents reporting driving at a snail's pace.

>> it's slippery. you have to drive slow because you see accidents everywhere. >> the main roads were ice, averaging 15, 20 miles an hour. >> already 600 flights have been canceled today. 1600 canceled yet. as far as delays, at newark, laguardia, jfk, all 90-minute delay or less. >> bethank you. we by the way will have a lot more on the winter storm and the problems it's causing. maria looks at the forecast and what is in store for travelers across the country. after more than a month in the hospital, doctors move former president george h.w. bush to intensive care. the latest on his condition and the word from his family is next. [ lisa ] my name's lisa, and chantix helped me quit.

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it worked for me. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. former president george h.w. bush is in intensive care after

he suffered a series of setbacks, including a stubborn fever. he's been in the hospital since november 23rd when admitted for a cough related to bronchitis. the spokesman says former president bush is alert and doctors are doing everything they can. >> they're optimistic the current course of treatment will be effective, so -- but the president is -- he's -- they don't put you in the icu because things are going well. we're hoping the medicines and treatments turn things around. >> former president obama is 88 years old. david lee miller with the news. what more do we know about the condition? >> a few moments ago i received a email from the family spokesman and he said, quote, one point we would like to make clear is president and mrs. bush

share cautious optimistic the treatment will be effective. it's a effort made to aid his recovery. as president bush said, he has not plans of going anywhere. in the last few days he's been placed on a liquids only diet. despite the setbacks, he's with his family and reportedly in very good humor, even joking, we're told, with hospital staff. >> and david lee, we know president bush in recent years has been very active, we've documented skydiving. what about his health problems? >> in the last few years, he celebrated a number of birthdays by skydiving but more recently, he's been suffering from parkinson's disease. the recent ale. started with a lingering cough. >> he battled bronchitis for three weeks.

at age 88, it takes a toll. coming out of that, he was doing physical therapy. it was going well until the middle part of last week where he had low energy days and things snowballed. it probably was exactly the wrong time pause of his weakened condition. >> mr. bush is the country's oldest living president. his doctors are cautiously optimistic. >> david lee miller, thank you. the head of the environmental protection agency, lisa jackson, is leaving her post. in a statement, she said she will leave the epa confident the ship is sailing the right direction. the president released a statement praising lisa jackson for taking steps to protect our air and water, helping to combat climate change and passing new fuel economy standards. republican lawmakers and

industrial groups often accused her and the epa of killing jobs, making it harder for american companies to compete on the world stage. every year thousands of american families save russian children from horrific conditions but that could stop. critics say it's all because russia's president is making a political ploy. we speak with a family about their efforts to adopt a russian child and what the move means to them. pot pie soup and it's so rich and creamy... is it really 100 calories? let me put you on webcan... ...lean roasted chicken... and a creamy broth mmm i can still see you. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

russia set to ban american families from adopting russian children and dozens of orphans about to be adopted in the u.s. will have to stay in russia. putin will sign the bill named after a russian boy to died of heatstroke after his adoptive american family forgot him in a locked car. some say it's retaliation for a u.s. crackdown on russians suspected of human rights abuse. critics accuse of creme kremlin of playing politics at the expense of hundreds of thousands of children. americans adopted more children from russia than almost anywhere else in the world. kurt and ann adopted their son

from russia in 2007 and have been trying to adopt from there again. i can see you have ben on set, he's now 7 years old. you adopted him when he was 13 months. you're a living example of how important it is for american parents to get involved in the kids' lives. talk about that, if you will. >> go ahead. >> when we decided to adopt ben, we weren't trying to rescue a child. we were trying to become parents. we wanted to be a family. and from the moment we met ben, outside of st. petersburg, russia, we fell in love. and we became family and now we don't know what our life would be without him. we're just like so many of the majority of the families who adopt from russia. we're regular people. he goes to school, plays sports. we're a family and we decided about a year ago we wanted to add another child to our family, so it was a national inclination

to go back to russia and try to adopt again. >> i know that you want to adopt again from russia. it seems to me that now it appears vladimir putin will sign the bill and there will be at least for the time being, no more children adopted from russia to the united states. 46 kids are now in the pipeline to be hooked up with american parents. this is devastating for the children and parents. >> it's heartbreaking, there's three to four trips to russia. the third is where you go to a russian court and you go before a russian protecter, the judge looks over your paperwork and the paperwork is tremendous. between your home study and dawes yay, several hundred of pages they have to go through. once the decree is made that you become the parents, there's a -- depending on the region a ten

day waiting period. those 46 couples are in the ten day wait so it's devastating. they've met their child and started bonding. i can't fathom what they're going through. we are at the beginning of our second adoption, as are many other families. >> if you might, ma'am, you tell me when you were going, as your husband says, in the back and forth process to russia, did you get a feel for what conditions the children were living in and if these adoptions are no longer allowed, what conditions will the kids be left to? >> with ben's adoption, his orphanage was excellent. there were about 100 children in it. it has been closed due to other reasons but the children were cared for, loved and rocked and fed. but at the same time, eight caregivers can't take care of 20

to 30 children. it's just not possible. there's -- it's not a family. it's not mom and dad bonding situation. even in the best of circumstances, you don't get the love and security that a permanent home brings to a child. and these children who have already been passed over by russian families and are available for international adoption and these 46 that have been already touched and hugged by families and they're waiting together to go back and get these children, these children will lose that. they won't get the love and attention and stimulation they need just to develop normally as children. >> well, it appears that ben is much loved. you guys are very blessed and we hope it works out for a second children and hope for the rest of the children from russia get good homes, ann, kurt, and ben, thank you all. >> thank you, trace. >> winter weather is slamming

the northeast right now. we will have a live update from the fox weather center next. plus, we have brand-new developments in the political standoff over the fiscal cliff. have you heard of this thing? not getting personal at all. the details coming up as we approach the bottom of the hour and the top of the news. >> announcer: 'tis the season of more-- more shopping, more dining out... and along with it, more identity theft. by the time this holiday season is over, an estimated

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of lifelock. >> announcer: absolutely no one protects you better than lifelock, and they stand behind their protection with the power of their $1 million service guarantee. in fact, last year, lifelock protected over two million people during the holidays. and now they can do it for you. try lifelock's protection 60 days risk-free. call the number on your screen or go to lifelock.com/holidays. it only takes minutes to sign up. use promo code: holidays. order now and get a special holiday gift: a document shredder to keep sensitive documents out of the wrong hands... a $29 value, free! call the number on your screen or go online and let lifelock protect your identity for 60 days risk-free. because during the holidays, keeping your identity protected means keeping your family protected. i'm trace gallagher in for shepard smith. this is "studio b," the same winter weather that brought thunderstorms, snow and tornadoes to parts of the south

now moving through the northeast. some spots got as much as a foot of snow as you can see there and more of it is on the way causing major problems for the post christmas travel rush. now to maria, where is the worst of it? >> good to see you. we're looking at bad conditions with the worst over the state of maine. that's where we're getting hit hard with snow still coming down about an inch per hour. we've seen accumulations over a foot in spots, especially upstate new york and you'll likely see places exceeding 2 feet of snow. you factor in the wind, 30, 40 miles an hour gusts and that blows the snow and produces whiteouts. dangerous traveling on the roadways across maine, vermont and new hampshire. the worst of it winding down across upstate new york where you snow is coming down and accumulating. otherwise, coastal areas, we had to deal with the rainfall earlier and also during the

overnight hours. that's pretty much over with, just lingering showers. warning for maine, vermont and new hampshire and upstate new york, expiring tonight or tomorrow morning, so you'll continue to see improvement but before all is said and done, another foot is possible across maine and areas further west. places that typically don't see much, like arkansas, 15 inches of know on christmas day. so they did get that white christmas. >> trace: another 15 inches from this storm then another storm? >> there's another storm but the good news is we're not expecting to see as big of a tornado outbreak as we saw or as much severe weather from that system or even as much snow. a much weaker storm that will push through the midwest as we head into friday, producing rain in areas that are still cleaning

up from the tornadoes. alabama, mississippi, we saw the tornadoes christmas day, produce damage to homes, and areas of rain and more thunderstorms. the storm is headed to the northeast, expecting to see more snow, accumulations shouldn't be as much as a foot in most areas but you're talking about a couple of inches on top of already stormy conditions. we'll get a break in the northeast on friday but a storm returns saturday with more wind and snow. >> trace: enjoy those eight hours of sun. thank you. well, more now on the back and forth battle in d.c. to avoid the looming fiscal cliff. with five days until major spending cuts kick in and taxes go up on everybody, the white house says president obama made separate phone calls to the senate leaders, harry reid, and john boehner. that was last night before the president took air force one

from hawaii to washington. molly is live for us at the white house. update us on the next move from the obama administration. >> despite the phone calls that the president made before he left hawaii, he spoke to top democrats and republicans and no negotiation meetings have been set. at least not formally or public limit there's nothing set yet between all the sides to discuss this. the president's back in washington after he cut short vacation to get back to the white house for possible last minute fiscal cliff talks leaving his wife and daughters in hawaii. the vice president is scheduled to be here today for meetings. don't forget the obama administration and congress have the debt ceiling hanging over them. the u.s. set to hit the borrowing limit of over $16 trillion by the end of the year. there's a lot going on at 2012 winds down. in congress, the senate is in session, the house is not. it's the first time either

chamber has been in session for business between christmas and new year's since 1970. >> trace: so they're coming back to work. the president probably wished he stayed in hawaii because not much has changed. >> both sides are waiting for the other to make the first move. senate republicans are ready to look over a plan the democrats put forth but they say there's no plan. this morning the top senate democrat, harry reid, chided the top house republican, john boehner, nor not calling the house legislators back into zes speaker boehner should call them back today. he shouldn't have let them go in fact. they're not here. they are not here. john boehner seems to care more about keeping his speakership than keeping the nation on firm financial footing.

>> in response, a spokesman for the speaker said senator reid should talk less and negotiate more. the house will be in session sunday. the house g.o.p. leadership says the lines of communication remain open and we'll work with colleagues to avert the largest tax hike in american history and address spending. at this point, speaker boehner remains in ohio. the house will be coming back on sunday. >> trace: molly henneberg, thank you. then there is the dairy cliff. by next week we could be paying 7 bucks a gallon for milk. the price could jump to more than twice the current average, $3.65 a gallon. it goes back to a true manner are a law where the u.s. government buys mass quantities of milk. >> what happened is in the

senate, they approved the farm bill but the house of represents hasn't. what happens under the 1949 law is if the new bill isn't passed january 1, the government is obliged to buy huge quantities of milk at twice the wholesale value. farmers will sell all their milk to the government and create a shortage in the stores. lobbyist say this is easy for congress to fix. >> the farm bill is like this low hanging ornament on the congressional christmas tree. if they embrace it they can come up with tens of billions of dollars in budget savings and figure out where else they need to cut spending after that. >> reporter: now, the senate bill is going to save $35 billion and the house of hof representatives, about $22 billion. >> we're convinced the government has a backup plan, right? >> you would like to think so but the agricultural secretary

is saying it will do whatever it is legally obligated to do. take a listen. >> sorry, we don't have that clip. sorry about that. we may not actually go over the cliff. >> the dairy cliff. >> the dairy cliff. what would happen in a few weeks, the government will have to buy it and delay the process by digging their heels in but you never know. one we're getting up to the edge. >> double the price of milk is a concern for families, mine included. dominic, thank you. a civil war drags on russian leaders have a plan to stop the fighting. it happens to be the same as the old plan. where exactly does russia stand on this? we'll get into that next. [ male announcer ] this december, remember -- you can stay in and share something... or you can get out there and actually share something. ♪

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>> trace: a top russian official says time is running out to reach a peaceful solution to the civil war in syria. the chance of a resolution are decreasing but it's necessary to avoid bloody choose. his comment after he met with sir rin officials. the activists says they've killed more than 44,000 people but rebel fighters won't accept any government with current

syrian regime officials. leland, we've heard calls for a political solution before, right? >> we've absolutely heard these calls for political solution n fact this plan the russians are putting forward is oddly similar to the plan dead on rifle in june -- arrival in june. he wasn't interesting in giving up power and the russians aren't interested in plan that leaves assad in power. the russian speak of a bloody chaos that could occur, the rebels are making significant gains, gaining momentum. one rebel fighter says we're going to fight all the way to bashar al-assad palace. you have the priors for both sides, sectarian civil war and

proxy war in the sense russia and iran are protecting assad and the other gulf states are supporting the rebels that are fighting fiercely. as long as they're willing to keep fighting, proxies supply them with money, political cover and weapons, so it's difficult to see how a peaceful solution will happen while everybody on the sidelines is pouring money in to continue the war. >> neil: the. >> the civil war in syria contributing to a growing refugee crisis. >> crisis is putting it lightly. there's 150,000 refugees in turkey. that number is growing expo tensionally. not only are people flowing across the border into turkey and jordan. thousands a day are trying to flee their homes and flee this violence. these people have to be fed, closed and during the winter, they have to be kept warm, which is putting a strain on turkey

and on jordan. as we talked about the civil war continuing on, many observers think it could happen for years. the questions become, what do you do with the thousands upon thousands of people, a number which is certain to grow as the civil war enters the larger population centers and they empty out as people are scared to be home and lost family members, loved ones and others that have been killed. >> leland vitter, live in the middle east, thank you. joining us, former state department official christian whiten, a principle at d.c. international advisory. he says it's easy, you got russia and iran pouring in the weapons. russia likes the leadership the way it is. >> russia has overwhelming interesting in the assad jeanie

the rebels are not gang gaining grounds. russia has to be plan b in case the rebels win. >> they may but they want to do their best to keep assad there. this is a war that's gone on nearly two years, about two years. more than 30,000 people dead so assad is all in. he's going to pay any price and the russians think if they continue to buy time, the rest of the world will lose interest. >> if assad leaves, one of the places he could gain exile would be russia. >> moscow says it's not on the table but it's the only place he could feel secure. the depositories are not an option. >> probably not. could russia say enough is enough, let's bring assad to russia and get it over once and for all? >> they could if they want but they would rather have him

there, realizing his neck is on the line, so they can have a friend in future government. >> we talked about the base in the northern part of the country. the way i read it, the rebels are going in, getting a stronghold in the military base and if they, for some reason, choke off the supply routes into damascus, that would be a huge, huge big blow to the assad regime. >> it would. they're doing better not only militarily but politically getting their act together with external prodding and having more identifyiable group. >> is it in your estimation good when you have generals from the syrian army deeffecting and putting out propaganda saying these are thugs? >> it's a very good thing for psychological operations against those still supporting the regime and some hope. who's going to run syria that

might be palatable to the west. probably former military officials having a strong role. >> we showed the picture of the defense secretary for all intense and purpose who just defected and changed sides. he's not just leaving, he's changing sides, which is a tilt if you play pinball. >> not retiring to paris but staying to resist and looking like libya when it went well with defectors. >> christian, good to see you. >> thank you, trace. >> trace: important news for millions of americans with cancer. according to a new study, some doctors believe if you get paid more or if they get paid more to administer the drugs and chemotherapy themself, they make more money. could that create a conflict of interest for you? that's next. [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus presents the cold truth. i have a cold, and i took nyquil, but i'm still "stubbed" up. [ male announcer ] truth is,

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>> trace: folks in the city of tuscaloosa, alabama, struggling to rebuild after one of the most deadly tornadoes. storm system in april last year that killed hundreds. a church in the city is rebuilding after clearing a long list of hurdles.

elizabeth with the news. it's not easy for a churn to rebuild after something as devastating as this. >> no, you're right. it's easier said than done. churches have a number of challenges. not only do they have to get approved by fema but go through insurance claims and make sure the construction is up to code. a lot of churches don't have resource to say rebuild. one churn church was alberta baptist and the congregation has been holding services at a church nearby but the spirit was still at the old site. after more more than a year of weighing advancing of a cheaper location, church leaders say they know god wanted them to stay on the property. >> we felt assured that god wanted us to come back where he planted us in the first place. so it wasn't a casual decision.

it was not an emotional decision. it was a decision based on prayer and what we think god wants. >> parishioners met in the old parking lot so they're looking forward to a roof over their head. >> i remember stories out of tuscaloosa. when is the first service? >> they broke ground weeks ago but it's going to take time. they say that it's going to be probably about a year or so before the first service. they're hoping for a christmas eve service in 2013. >> they forced us even more as a church to get outside of the four walls of our building and get out into the community. we'vejml had our greatest impai believe on the surrounding neighborhoods near our church since the tornado. >> reporter: members tell us that they are breathing a sigh of relief because the construction site was unscathed after the recent tornadoes that touched down on tuesday.

>> trace: elizabeth, thank you. cancer doctors could have a financial incentive to overtreat patients. that from a new survey of hundreds of oncologists. nearly a quarter of doctors say they believe they get paid more when they give more chemotherapy or other drugs. it's especially the case among doctors who do not receive a flat salary. analysts warn it could create a conflict of interest that the specialists may feel encouraged to offer expensive drugs in their office for the extra cash. but it's important to note the study did not reveal actual cases of doctors mistreating cancer patients. the survey appears in the journal of clinical on collgy. a former family practitioner and host of a radio nation. does this mean patients might get unnecessary chemotherapy

treatments? >> no. the report stated specifically they couldn't draw conclusions. that's important to realize. that said, i think the report raises some important issues with respect to what patients need to ask doctors, particularly in this situation of cancer treatment. >> trace: it's interesting because some of this article is talking about a possible conflict of interest but i would think if you go to your doctor, you know that your doctor's going to get paid by you visiting, so if you feel comfortable with your oncologist, would you not want them to give you the treatment themself as soon as. >> you would. the chemotherapy treatment in the office is much less expensive than the treatment in the hospital and most prefer the office setting. that said, it asks of patients to be prepared to inquire as to whether the treatment they're getting is the best treatment. there's nothing wrong with that

to sit down with your oncologist to whom you've been referred by your doctor and say, listen, i have done reading and know there are treatments available but is this treatment the best treatment available at the cost? what the side effects? what are the alternatives? are you part of a clinical trial? is this treatment the gold standard? is this how everything is treated in the country according to a standard? these are responsible and reason questions all patients should ask and no doctor should have a problem with that. >> i think you're right but some cases, especially with older patients who believe their doctor is the controller of their destiny for lack of a better fundraise, and they gunshot phrase and they don't ask. they believe what whatever the doctor says is right. it's hard cochange to change that trend. >> it's true.

but when older patients are accompanied by that are children, the other thing they should look for is the nursing practitioners. it's important to remember that the doctor might treat you, but the nurses take care of you. and they're a critical part of the treatment, so interview the nurses, interview the doctor the first time. and you should make an informed decision. and you should ask the right questions, that i referred to before. i think that's appropriate and i think it's important for people to know that cancer by in large is treatable. >> trace: doctor, i having to but i'm reading that 65% of oncologist get their money, bring in office money furnishings treating patients. does that concern you at all? >> no. i think that's appropriate because the cost of the medication and the cost of administrating treatment and watching for side effects is significant. and this is what they do. this is where the cost is. but when you have to compare it to the hospital cost, of doing

the same thing, trace,. >> trace: it's a very good point. we have to go. thank you so much. >> thank you, trace. >> trace: this not everyone likes to ring in the new year with kisses and champagne. some prefer to bring it on with a good ol' knuckle sandwich. the new year's fistfight special is next. this is america.

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>> trace: breaking news. he's been laying low but senate minority leader mitch mcdonnell addressing the fiscal cliff. >> now republicans have bent over backwards. we stepped way, way out of our comfort zone, we wanted an agreement. but we had no takers. the phone never rang and now here we are, five days from the new year and we might finally start talking. democrats have had an entire year to put forward a balanced bipartisan proposal and if they had something to fit the bill, i'm sure the majority leader would have been able to deliver the votes the president needed to pass it here in the senate and we wouldn't be in this mess. but here we are, once again, at